Perhaps Rhys should have just really escaped with Lina while they were on the plane. He could still probably just surprise everyone and suddenly pretend to wake up now, but for some reason, it felt like he just had to see this through to the end now.
And so, he will.
Even as Rhys caught a glimpse of someone with glowing hair approaching them ever so menacingly, Rhys pretended to be unconscious.
"Well, well, well... Trash all the way from Amerka. Are we disposing of it here?"
"P...Princess Annabeth!"
And as the woman, Annabeth, got closer and closer to them, Rhys finally realized why she looked somewhat menacing. Aside from the fact that her long green hair was glowing, it was the fact that it was completely still that made her look surreal; even with the harsh wind blowing across the airstrip, her hair remained immovable, unaffected by anything.
Rhys couldn't really see clearly since the man carrying him was turned the wrong way, but since Rhys was used to barely even seeing anything since his eyes had always been covered by his hair, a single glimpse was enough.
With how she dressed and the way she looked, she seemed too old to be Lina's cousin.
"Anna, what are you doing here?"
"I should be the one saying that to you, my dear husband."
Annabeth's slightly arrogant tone completely faded away as soon as her eyes landed on Lance; her hair, also slightly moving along with the wind as she made her way toward the prince,
"We've already had this conversation a thousand times, and I thought you agreed — so, why is your brother's daughter here? And did you actually drug her?"
"I just did what I felt needed doing, Anna," Lance's sigh could be heard throughout the entire airstrip as he did not allow Annabeth to walk the entire way toward him, meeting her halfway instead before Annabeth kissed him on the cheek. She would have probably kissed her on the lips, but she would still need to find them underneath his thick mustache,
"Let's not talk here," Lance then gestured to his guards to start moving, "Where did you put the car?"
"That's..." Annabeth glared at Lance for a few seconds before snapping her fingers. And as soon as she did so, several cars started moving toward them.
She did not really say anything anymore and just watched as Rhys and Lina were gently thrown inside the car; she and Lance also got in the same vehicle; the silence between them, almost whistling since the inside of the car seemed completely isolated from the outside.
Rhys and Lina were placed on the seat opposite of Lance and Annabeth. And since the two were not speaking at all and just staring at them even after minutes had passed...
...Rhys just chose to break the silence himself.
"We could have just discussed this like normal people."
"!!!"
Annabeth immediately pointed her palm at Rhys as soon as she heard him speak, but she could not really do anything as Rhys just suddenly moved toward Lance, wrapping his arm over Lance's shoulder. He then stared at Annabeth's raised palm, quietly gesturing to her to lower it... and she did.
Although Annabeth did not really know Rhys enough, she was not stupid to think that Rhys wouldn't be able to snap her husband's neck before she could try to incapacitate her — there was a reason why Rhys Wilder was making trends in his country, she won't be the fool to test that.
"You just landed in a new land, Mr. Rhys Wilder," Annabeth squinted her eyes as she looked at her husband, shaking her head as if to tell him not to do anything, "You do not want to make enemies in a country where you know absolutely no one."
"I know," Rhys did not seem to mind that he was being threatened by Annabeth. His eyes, just looking at her from head to toe. He then subtly glanced in the direction of the driver — but seeing as they were separated by some sort of armored glass, it would seem he hadn't noticed what was going on yet, "That is why if I were to be honest...
...I'm not very keen on turning into a criminal on my first day here."
And as Annabeth saw Rhys's eyes from behind his hair just staring at her, she finally realized what her husband just brought to their country. Rhys Wilder was not a unicorn to be used as a chess piece at all...
...he is a threat.